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Sunday, June 5, 2016

Augusta, Ga. (WJBF) – Hundreds of people showed off their muscles by pulling an airplane for charity.

“We’ve had some pretty strong people and we never seem to win,” said Bridgestone “That’s how we roll” team captain Megan Rains.

In a battle between man versus plane, several local groups put together teams to face off against this man-made steel bird weighing in at a little more than 60,000 pounds.

“You know the worst part is the you have to take the tension and the guy at the top keeps holding the break and we’re light huffing and puffing and finally he released it and then we’ve run out of energy.” ADP employee Eddie Writer told WJBF News Channel 6.

The annual tug-of-war raises money for the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Augusta. Team captains say collecting donations and getting people to sign-up is sometimes the easiest part of the challenge. “We don’t train but they do come up with different strategies of how we should do it and every year. When it doesn’t work they try to come up with another one,” Rains told WJBF News Channel 6.

Teams made up of 25 individuals line up along the rope and when the buzzer goes off the tugging begins.

“They pull it 12 feet in the shortest amount of time and believe it or not the shortest amount of time will be 5 or 6 seconds,” President and C.E.O. of the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Augusta Betts Murdison said.

The plane pull raises between $60,000 and $65,000 every year that is put right back into the community. Ronald McDonald House Charities of Augusta has several events planned for the rest of the year including a charity golf tournament at the end of August.Story and video: http://wjbf.com